John stephenson



J. STBPHENSON. DRAW GEAR FOR CABLE GARS.

Patented May 14, 1889.

UNITED STATESl PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN STEPHENSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

DRAW-GEAR FOR CABLE CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,301, dated May 14.-, 1889.

Application led July 20, 1888. Serial No. 280,513. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN STEPHENsON, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cable-Car Draw-Heads with Trucks, of which the following is a full, clear,

- and exact specification.v

. body 120, and whether attached to car-licor or.

In cable propulsion of tram-cars the comparativelyhigh speed of the cable when gripped jerks the car into motion, which is discomforting to passengers and injurious to the railway plant. It has become usual to attach behind the grip-car other cars. The car following must be coupled to that preceding, and this act of coupling produces objectionable concussions. To obviate these difficulties, I construct and arrange the drawhead as fully set forth hereinafter, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of sufficient of a tram-car to illustrate my improvements. Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the draw-head and itsl supports. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2.

The cable-grip is located under the carto truck independent of the body the grip must have a carrier, 115, with freedom for horizontal motion endwise and crosswise. Therefore the grip-carrier is arranged in its bearings with liberty to move in any direction horizontally.

The draw-head 116 is best constructed that its face may afford a bumper-surface for contacting cars; but short eye-bars which keep the cars in fixed separation are more suitable for tramways.

Between each draw-head and the adjacent end of the grip-carrier is fastened to the carfloor timbers a socket, 117, holding a compressible spring, 118, with cups 119 secured on the tail of asliding bar,12l. The head of the sliding bar 121 has a stiff coupling-bar, 123, constituting a connection with the draw-head 116, and extending in the opposite direction between the head of the sliding bar and the grip-carrier is a chain-connection,122. Each end of the grip-carrier has the above-described connection with the adjacent draw-head, and thus both halves of the draw-head system are alike. The chains 122 are preferably each made extensible by means of an ordinary turn-buckle, 125.

The cable-car draw-head system, as described, is composed of the following elements, to wit: two bunter draw-heads, two stiff bars connecting the draw-heads with two spring slide-bars having their tail ends extending through two springs, with their four springcups in two spring-sockets, and two chains connecting the slide-bars with, one grip -carrier. These elements constitute a system of draw and bunter heads for one double-entier cable tram-car.

The above system is adapted to operate all the elements named when the car is pulled while having another car behind it; but when the grip seizes the moving cable only the grip-carrier and the mechanism behind the carrier is operative; but a car that changes ends, so as to run either end foremost, will, during the round trip, bring into service all the mechanism of the draw-head system.

I do not here claim features illustrated in ythe drawings and constituting the subjectmatter of the claims in my separate application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 280,630.

I claim-- 1. A car having at each end a draw-head connected by a stiff bar with the head of a slide-bar having its smaller end passing' through a spring in a socket or housing secured to the bottom of the car-body, the slidebar being connected by a chain with a gripcarrier capable of end motion affecting only the spring and draw-head behind the gripcarrier, substantially as described.

2. A cable car with a draw-head at each end of the car, each draw-head having a stiff bar-connection with a slide-bar extending through a spring in a socket or housing secured to the car-bottoni, the slide-bar having a chain-connection with a grip-carrier, which grip-carrier, with the two chains, two springs, two slide-bars, two stiff connecting-bars, and two draw-heads, are all arranged to be moved when either of the draw-heads is pulled, substantially as described.

3. A cable car having a draw-head system with a chain-connection between the spring slide-bars and the grip-carrier adapted to iet the oableoontroi only the grip-carrier and the part of the system behind it, substantially as shown and described.

L A cable ear with a chain connecting the grip-oarrier with the slide-bar, and a spring attached to the iioor of the ear-body at a piace intervening between the draw-head and the grip-oarrier,-t11e chain being extensible and adapted to adj ust the distance between the draw-head and the grip-carrier, substantially as shown and described.

5. A car having a system o draw-heads containing the Jfollowing elements, to wit:

two draw-heads with two stiif bars connecting the draw-heads with two spring slide-bars having on their tails two springs with four Spring-oups in two spring-sockets, and two chains connecting the two slide-bars with one grip-carrier, all connected and adapted to cooperate in performing' functions of the oar service, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two sub- 2 5 seribing witnesses. l

J OI-IN STEPHENSON. fitnessesz CHARLES E. FOSTER, STUART A. STEPHENsoN. 

